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(No Model.)

1?. A. STOHLMANN. SURGICAL NEEDLE HOLDER.

No. 348,537. Patented Aug. 31, 1886.

UNTTED STATES PATENT Orrrcn.

FREDERICK A. SIOHLMANN, OF BROOKLYN, ASSIGNOR TO GEORGE TIE- .WIANN & OO., OF NE\V YORK, N. Y.

SURGICAL-NEEDLE HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 348,537, dated August 31, 1886. Application filed July 1, 1886. Serial No. 206,797. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I FREDERICK A. SToHL- MANN, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Surgical-Needle Forceps, of which the following is a specification.

Surgical needles are made of various shapes, and the same have to be inserted in places that are not easy of access, and hence it is important that the forceps be constructed in such a manner as to grasp and hold a needle of any shape and occupying a position in any desired direction to the jaws of the forceps.

My improvement is made with this object in view, and relates to the combination, with hinged handles and jaws, of a swinging and sliding jaw, between which and a headpiece or projection the needle can be grasped in a very firm and reliable manner.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of the forceps complete. Fig. 2 is a detached View of the holding jaw of the forceps with the upper jaw partially removed. Fig. 3 represents a modification of the construction of the holding-jaw; and Fig. 4 is a side view of a double holding-jaw.

The handles A and B are of suitable size and shape, and they are connected together by thejoint or pivot at O. The handles are opened by the action of a suitable spring, D, and a bridle-piece, I pivoted to the handle A and passing over the rack F upon the handle 13, is preferably employed for holding the forceps closed after the needle has been grasped. Thcjaws H I are continuations of the respective handles A B, and the end portions, 2 and 3, of these jaws are preferably rounding, and the surfaces that come together are usually flat, or nearly so, and provided with radial serrations or grooves, as seen in Figs. 1, S, and 4-, into which may be laid a straight or a curved needle in any desired direction to the jaws and handles.

My present improvement relates especially to the pivoted and sliding jaw K, the pivoted connection 4 being upon one of the jaws II or I, and the clamping-head 5 of the sliding jaw K adjacent to the shoulder or offset 6 upon the end 3 of the jaw I. It will now be apparent that when the handles A and B are pressed toward each other the jaw K is made to slide with a powerful action, so that a needle between the head 5 and the shoulder 6 will be clamped in a firm and reliable manner. This clamp is especially available for holding the needle while it is being inserted; but it may also be used for withdrawing the needle after it has been inserted. In Figs. 1 and 2 this slidingjaw K is shown as placed between the jaws H and I, and the shoulder 6 as passing across at the inner edge of the jaw end 3.

In Fig. 3 a sliding jaw, K, is shown as pivoted at one side of the jaw II, and the shoulder 6 as at one side of the jaw end 3. For some surgical work. this arrangement of parts may be preferred, but I do not limit myself in this particular, and in Fig. 4 I have shown another modification in which there are two sliding jaws, K, crossing each other, and the respective heads 5 are adjacent to the shoulders 6 on both the jaw ends 2 and 3. It is not necessary in all cases to provide the two jaw ends 2 and 3, as the jaw end 2 might be removed, as shown in Fig. 2, without rendering the forceps useless.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination, with the handle and jaw in surgical-needle forceps, of a sliding jaw, a pivotal connection between the same and one part of the hinged forceps, a head at the other end of the sliding jaw, and an offset or shoulder at the forceps end, against which the needle is clamped by the head of the sliding jaw, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with the handles and jaws pivoted together and having jaw ends 2 and 3, of the sliding jaw K, having a clamping-head acting against a shoulder upon the jaw end, substantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 23d day of June, A. D. 1.886.

F. A. STOHLMANN.

Witnesses:

GEO. T. PINUKNEY, WILLIAM G. Mom. 

